The Lollipop
by Kiexa
Summary: It was just like any other lollipop, except that it was the only red cherry lollipop on entire fairgrounds… and anyone who tasted it was gone only moments later…


Hey guys! It's me again, with another story! This one's a random story I wrote this weekend... not originally planned to be a fanfic, but with a few tweaks to the character descriptions, I changed it into one. It's really just a bizarre story, but see if you can tell who all the people are! XD

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. That is the FANFICTION part of FANFICTION, people. Got it memorized? ;)

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**The Lollipop**

The prize for ringing three orange hoops around a glass Coke bottle from eight feet away was nothing more than a choice of one lollipop from the basket at the back of the game booth.

That was why the little kiosk was mostly deserted late on a Friday night at the small town fairgrounds. Or maybe the reason was the $1.00 charge to play -- which, frankly, was a rip-off.

It was around nine o'clock when a tall, red-headed man wearing a black leather jacket approached the booth. He stood there for a long moment without saying a word, studying the Coke bottles. The booth attendant, a dull, overweight man in his late forties, pointed to a tin can that sat on the edge of the booth.

"One dollar to play," he said in a bored tone, holding up three orange plastic rings.

The red-headed man pulled a dollar bill from his pocket and stuffed it into the can, then took the rings from the booth attendant.

_Swish! Clunk!_ With a swift flick of his wrist, three rings had found a new home around the base of a Coke bottle.

The booth attendant looked at the perfectly-ringed bottles, at the man, at the bottles. Then, with an animal-like grunt, he turned and shuffled to the back, grabbed the candy basket, and shuffled up to the front again, dropping one red lollipop on the way.

The red-headed man dug in the basket for a moment, uncertainly, but his gaze fell to the piece of candy on the ground. There were many colors of lollipops in the basket -- orange, purple, green, blue, yellow -- but none of them were quite as alluring as the single red one lying on the ground.

"Can I have that one?" he asked, pointing.

The attendant turned around with another grunt, picked up the lollipop, and handed it to him.

"Thank you," said the redhead, and walked away.

As he walked, he unwrapped the lollipop and sniffed it. A sweet cherry scent filled his nostrils, making him a little dizzy, and he pulled it away, wrinkling his nose. He didn't feel like eating it quite yet. Maybe he would ask someone to hold it for him while he found something else to do.

The first one to take the lollipop from him was a mechanic, a sour, irritable looking forty-something-year-old who serviced the rides when they were down. He hated his job, as evidenced by the scowl on his face, and he didn't bother making it look like he was enjoying himself. His blue uniform was rumpled, his long blonde hair was mussed, and his eyebrows came together just over his dull green eyes, making him look even more menacing as he glared at anyone who passed by.

He stood by the exit gate of the carousel, squinting and glowering slightly at all the kids and teenagers and young couples who were having the time of their lives on the little spinning ride. The ride slowly came to a stop and the carousel riders began to pour out of the exit gates. The mechanic had to step out of the way so that he wouldn't be trampled by the knots of rowdy young people. It was then that he felt it slip into his hand.

"Hold that for me. I'll be right back," a gentle male voice said softly.

The mechanic didn't even get a chance to see who the person was before he had walked away. He was only able to spot a glimpse of a black leather coat and a flash of red hair as the man disappeared into the crowd again, heading for the carousel entrance.

He looked down. The lollipop wrapper was already off, but the candy looked uneaten. It was bright red, the color of a rose. Impulsively, he shoved it into his mouth, and a burst of sweet-sour flooded his tongue. It was cherry flavored.

He looked up again as the merry-go-'round began to spin, still sucking at the cherry lollipop. The red-headed man with the black leather jacket watched him with an unwavering stare from his seat on a honey-colored horse. As the mechanic stood there, the man went around once, twice, three times, but he never stopped staring. Around went the horse, around went the man, up and down went the horse, up and down went the man. The horse spun, the man spun, the whole world spun.

By the time the red-headed man got off the ride, the mechanic had collapsed beside the exit gate, motionless. The red-head leaned over the mechanic and pulled the red cherry lollipop out of the man's mouth.

"Thank you for holding it," he said, then went to find something else to entertain himself with.

The next person who took the lollipop was the tall, muscular man who ran the batting cages. He was at the cages for five hours straight, from five o'clock in the evening until ten o'clock at night. He did his job like a robot, taking in money, handing out baseball bats, taking in money, handing out bats. Exactly as he'd been told, nothing more, nothing less. He almost looked like a statue as he stood in front of the cages, arms folded, eyes straight ahead, slightly bored but emotionless otherwise.

"Can you hold this?" the voice asked.

The tall man looked down to see a redhead in a black leather jacket take the baseball bat that hung loosely in his fingers and replace it with something else, something… smaller. The redhead's piercing green eyes never left the tall man's as he lifted the bat into his hands and stepped slowly over to the batting cage.

The tall man lifted his hand so he could see what was there.

It was a lollipop, the sour cherry kind. The wrapper was missing, and it looked like someone had started to eat it but changed his mind after the first taste. It looked good, only the way candy could look. Without thinking, he put it into his mouth, and a sharp cherry flavor pricked his taste buds.

_CRACK!_ sang the bat as the red-headed man smacked the baseball with enough force to slam the ball through the other side of the tent.

The tall man looked down at the redhead. As he did, his vision spun. The batting cage lights were suddenly too bright. Dizzy, he tumbled forward onto the ground and his vision began to fade to black.

"Thank you," he heard the redhead say, then felt him pluck the lollipop from his mouth.

The third person to take the lollipop was the blonde girl whose boyfriend was afraid of heights. She had tried to convince him to ride the Ferris wheel with her all night, but in the end, she wound up going alone. The chilly night wind blew her short blonde hair all around her face as she stepped into the Ferris wheel car, and she snuggled deeper into her boyfriend's warm gray hoodie.

"One more," said the ride conductor, and a redheaded man wearing a black leather jacket walked past the entrance gate and settled into the car next to her.

"Can you hold this for me, please?" he asked, placing something in her hand. He watched her with piercing green eyes as he reached down and buckled himself in.

The girl looked down at what he had handed her. It was a red lollipop, bright and shiny as a prize-winning candy apple. Someone had eaten some already, it looked like. Her mouth watered, and she stuffed it past her lips, fireworks of cherry-flavored sweetness exploded in her mouth.

_"All aboarrrd!"_ called the Ferris wheel conductor, and the ride screeched like a train pulling out of the station. The car began to rise, pulling her higher and higher into the sky. She rocketed up, past the stars and the moon, but they suddenly stopped shining and grew dark all around her.

When the car finally sailed back down to the earth and the ride was over, the girl lay quietly, her face tipped up toward the sky.

The man reached over and retrieved the lollipop. "Thank you," he said, then unbuckled and disappeared into the crowd.

The fourth person to take the lollipop was the man who hosted the "Win-a-Goldfish" game. He sat on a stool in the booth, his pink-streaked hair flopping from side to side as he scanned the throngs of people wandering the fairground for a potential customer. He liked his job, liked people, liked to crack jokes, liked attention -- so much so that maybe that was the reason all his co-workers called him a fruitcake. Not that he minded, of course.

"Can you hold this?" a voice asked him quietly.

The goldfish man turned as a red-headed man wearing a black leather jacket stretched his arm over the fishbowls and slipped something into his palm. Watching him with keen green eyes, the redhead picked up three ping-pong balls that lay on the edge of the booth.

The goldfish man looked down at the object in his palm. It was a red lollipop, bright and cheery as the red balloons that the fair clowns handed out to kids. Someone had clearly been eating it, since it was already about halfway gone, but it sparkled in the booth lights, begging for a taste.

The goldfish man put it in his mouth, and a sour cherry buzz washed over his senses. He turned to look back at the redhead.

_Plop!_ The first ping-pong ball bounced off one fishbowl and landed in another one that had no fish in it.

_Flop!_ The second one did the same thing.

_Splot!_ The third ping-pong ball soared high through the air and landed right on top of a fishbowl occupied by a little orange fish.

The goldfish man didn't see this because was slumped forward on the counter of his booth, eyes closed.

The redhead leaned forward and pulled the lollipop from the man's open lips. "Thank you," he said, took his winning goldfish, and went away.

The fifth person who took the lollipop was the boy who worked alone at the funnel cake cart. He was taking a break now, sitting by himself at one of the picnic tables that were arranged in front of the food vendors. A thick book with a leather bound cover was spread on the table in front of him, and he pored over the pages, his strangely colored silverish hair falling over his eyes as his lips moved mutely to the printed words.

A red-haired man wearing a black leather jacket approached the table and sat down across from him, setting the fishbowl on the bench beside him.

"Can you hold this for me?" asked the man, dropping something small and sticky into the boy's half-curled hand. He watched the boy with sharp green eyes as he stood to get a some cotton candy from a nearby cart.

The boy opened his hand and studied what the redhead had put there. It was a bright red lollipop, the color of sweet strawberry syrup. It was already half-eaten, but it glittered invitingly in the light of the vendor carts. Suddenly hungry, the boy pushed it into his mouth, and a sweet-and-sour cherry flavor swirled around on top of his tongue.

He looked up to see the redhead just starting for the table again. When he turned back to his book, the words on the page came alive before him, dancing and twirling and spinning away. His eyes followed them round and round till he could no longer see, and he fell forward, cheek to the page, eyes falling shut.

"Thank you," he heard the redhead say as he plucked the lollipop from his lips, set the cotton candy at his side, pick up his goldfish, and walk away.

The only person who didn't taste the lollipop was the short, blonde-haired boy who sat in the raised booth at the entrance of the fair, selling tickets to the fairgoers. He was shy and he didn't speak to any of the customers as he collected money and handed out tickets, collected money and handed out tickets. In between the clusters of people that came to his booth, he sat idly, his blue eyes meandering the grounds as he fiddled with the ticket roll.

A red-headed man wearing a black leather jacket and carrying a goldfish bowl approached the booth and held something out to the boy.

"Can you hold this for me?" he asked softly, looking up.

The boy stared down at the bright red lollipop the man held in his hand. It was almost all eaten, but it was still red and shiny and reflected all of fair lights around them. Barely, just barely, he could smell the faint scent of cherry.

Blinking his round blue eyes, the boy shook his blonde head and went back to fiddling with the tickets. He didn't say a word.

The redhead's face fell, but he didn't lower his arm. He took a step forward, stretched up on his toes and pushed the candy closer.

"Please," he said.

The boy looked up again and stared the redhead, wrinkling his brow. Then he reached down, pulled a napkin from underneath the counter, and slid it across to the man, still silent. The man stared at the napkin for a moment, then waggled his hand impatiently. "Please?" he repeated.

For another moment, the boy hesitated, then he reached out and took the lollipop. The redhead's face immediately brightened. Pushing his fingers into his pockets, he pulled out three one-dollar bills, straightening them scrupulously before setting them in front of the boy.

Uncertain, the boy looked at the money for a moment, then tore a string of twelve tickets from the roll at his side and offered it to him. The redhead made no move to take them, instead shifting from foot to foot restlessly and tapping the side of his fishbowl. Finally, he took a slow step forward, but he didn't take the tickets. He snatched the red cherry lollipop from the boy's hand and shoved it into his mouth.

Sweet-sour cherry flavor stung his tongue and made his eyes water. The ticket boy's round blue eyes danced in front of him, and his legs crumpled beneath him as everything faded into an explosion of red sparks.

"You're welcome," he heard the boy say, then his world grew dark.

The ticket boy only looked on, his pale blue eyes blinking in shock as the stranger sank to the ground in front of his booth. He had seen nothing like it in his brief life. Jumping quickly off his seat, he pushed the door to the booth open and scurried out to the redhead's motionless form. He stood staring, brow furrowed, at the man's pale skin, blue lips, arm still curled around the glass fishbowl. He could still catch the faint, dizzying aroma of cherries.

It was the alluring sugar-sweet scent that drew him in like a magnet. His mouth began to water. He reached down and pulled the lollipop from the redhead's cold blue lips, brought it close to his nose, inhaled. The smell grew sharp, spicy. Unable to resist, he greedily shoved the lollipop into his mouth and bit down.

The cherry candy burst between his teeth like a bomb, shattering into a torrent of acidic cherry taste. Tears blurred his vision and fell from his eyes in rivers as the sensation burned his tongue and throat. Dizzy, he wheeled around, but the fair lights swirled around him in a crazy haze, and he finally dropped to his knees, then his stomach, then his face, then lay in the dirt, just beside the redhead. Icy numbness began to devour his limbs and his eyes glazed over.

"Thank you," was the last thing he whispered, then he closed his eyes and faded away.

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The end… did you figure out who all the people were? Hoped you liked it, and as always, reviews are welcomed like chocolate chip cookies!

Cherry lollipop anyone?


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